Welcome to Dean Cheesman's Blog

So it turns out that I'm one of those people who only posts once or twice a month, but I do read a ton of blogs every day and I "share" the posts I like. So be sure to check out my "shared items" on the right side of the blog. Also, be sure to check out what music i'm listening to on my last.fm page and feel free to click the chat link to talk to me.

Friday, December 26, 2008

2008 has been such an interesting and wonderful year for me. Much to my surprise this year turned out to be an amazing year. As a gift to you all and for future reference I have decided to share with you all my favorite songs of 2008. Even though a couple of these songs were released previous to 2008 they didn't make it to my library until this year. Enjoy.

Goliath - The Mars Volta - I'm convinced that these guys are the modern Beathoven. So complex. You should get this whole album and try to digest it. It takes a couple listens for it to really stick, but once you really listen to them you'll see how genius these guys are.

You'll Remember - The Speakers - I don't even know where I got this song. It must have been on some music blog, but this song is so intimate I love it.

Don't Let Me Die - Band of Annuals - The most country-like stuff that i'll listen to. These guys are from Salt Lake and write terribly catchy folk rock. Plus the lead singer looks like a gun slinger straight out of the wild west. If you're local to Utah, check these guys' show out (and make sure you listen to this song so you know when to sing along).

Tesselate - Tokyo Police Club - Saw these guys up in Salt Lake for free and couldn't stop listening to them for about two months straight. It's sort of cotton candy music (Mars Volta being a steak). Pretty simple but fun to listen to.

Creature Fear - Bon Iver - The Band I listened to the most this year. This guy went out to some cabin for a couple weeks and wrote this album and you can totally imagine it as you listen to the album. GET THIS ALBUM. It's especially great winter music

Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Pt. 2 - My Morning Jacket - I think my musical taste tends towards singers who sing extremely too high. My Morning Jacket is a great example of this. I'm not sure what exactly it was that made me like this song so much, but this video probably helped (seriously... shrugging off a cape and whipping out your guitar mid-song is awesome).

Multiply - Jamie Lidell - I love Stevie Wonder and I think this guy is pretty close to a modern Stevie Wonder. Plus he's a nerdy looking white dude from London.

If This is It - Throw Me the Statue - Although this song wasn't on their album, Moonbeams, that they released this year it's probably my favorite song of theirs.

I Woke Up Near the Sea - Lydia - These guys appeal to my late 90's early 2000's sensibilities. Steve introduced me to them and i've enjoyed their whole album.

Marry Song - Band of Horses - This song reminds me of being on the beach. Good times. Good song.

Muscle'n Flo - Menonema - Not much to say here. Just enjoy it.

I Told Ya So - TaughtMe - My favorite local band. These guys are so original sounding it kills me. I try to imagine how they write these songs and it blows my mind.

Hair Don't Grow - Annuals - Not to be confused with Band of Annuals. These guys had my favorite album of 2007 with Be He Me and I was worried about their followup, but their new album, Such Fun, has some great tracks like this one.

If you're interested in everything else I've listened to this year you can visit my Last.fm page.